A cloud of grief has surrounded the Londiani Junction, along the Kericho-Kisumu Highway, days after a horrific road crash that has since claimed 52 lives.
The Friday evening accident occurred after a truck rammed into various vehicles and businesspersons who were at the scene.
As families of the deceased come to terms with their loss, they have shared their final moments with their kin, and how they learnt of their death.
For Mary Nduta, who lost her sister in the accident, an alarming call from the landlord confirmed her worst fears.
“The landlord called 7.30 in the morning, saying that my sister had not slept in the house. When I got to the junction, another sister of mine showed me her leso,” she told Citizen Digital.
Margaret Wanjiku lost her fisrt born son in the accident, which happened just 30 minutes after they talked on phone.
“We found his bicycle crashed at the scene of the accident, and we were told he had been taken to hospital. When we got there, he had died,” she recalls.
“He had just delivered potatoes. We heard that there was an accident at the junction and he was among the victims,” another kin narrated.
As families count their losses, one Naomi Kosgei, who escaped the crush by a whisker counts her blessing.
“I lied down when the truck was passing, I held myself on an electricity pole, and only my leg was injured,” she says.
Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen on Saturday visited the scene of the accident, where he called for relocation of roadside markets.
“All markets along the road reserve should be relocated. County governments in partnership with the national government through the intergovernmental framework should construct markets off the highways even as KeNHA constructs access roads to the markets,” Murkomen said
